Thursday, February 6, 2014

In 1894, my great grandfather read about a big federal project planned for

Thomas Jefferson Hampson
at about 40 years

Velasco, Texas, a dredging and construction project that called out loudly to him. He decided to get out of the mining business high up in the Rocky Mountains where he had barely made a living and into the tugboat captain business in the Gulf of Mexico where he made some money soon after his service in the Civil War.

The fact is, he had no choices in the face of the Panic of 1893 and the hard blows it landed to his life and family in Colorado. Mining, cutting wood, making bricks, farming. Nothing really delivered for his growing family. His choice was to pack it all up and get to Texas at the estuary of the Brazos River, now known as Freeport.

Forty years later, in another depression, he would have driven a Model T to California. In 1894, he put everything he had into two wagons, a buckboard and a covered wagon pulled by six horses, and set out for Velasco, 1380 miles away. Hampson's son, Thomas Jefferson Hampson, Jr., my grandfather, was then just 21 years old and wrote a diary about the trip. I've been reading the diary in the hope of getting to know him a bit better than when, as a 12 year old boy, I listened to his scratchy voice saying things to my Mom I didn't quite get. As I think about it, I also find it very special to think I actually knew someone who crossed the country behind teams of horses.

Economic
opportunity for the Hampson family was then defined north and south -- the Gulf and the Rockies. The money he made when he and his brother had
twenty employees and three boats, the Ruth Elma, the Belle Darlington and Mary
Louise, he lost when he followed the gold high up in the Rockies in Garfield
County.

You’ve met
the Civil War soldier Thomas Jefferson Hampson in this blog before. He joined the Union Army right after Fort
Sumter and fought in its first major battle in the western theater, Wilson’s
Creek in Southwest Missouri, where he was left for dead, showed some eye
movement to the burial crew and spent several months in a Confederate prison in
Greene County, Missouri. When he escaped
the prison a few months later after Union troops began pushing the Rebels out of Southwestern
Missouri, he weighed 80 pounds, half the body weight he carried when he enlisted.

He
recovered, put his weight back on at his home in Covington, Kentucky, across the river from Cincinnati, and rejoined
the army, serving for an additional three years in an engineering battalion,
fighting at First and Second Memphis, Second Franklin, Vicksburg, Shiloh.

My grandfather at about 25

The
manifest for the Velasco trip spanned three generations. Epenetus Foster Hampson, the senior Hampson’s
mother, was 83. TJ senior was now 53. His wife, Alice Knapp Hampson, was 45. My grandfather was 21, his brother Charles
Foster Hampson, was 19. Chester Knapp
Hampson was 17. Ralph Leander Hampson
was 13, Anna Ruby Hampson was 6 and the youngest, Harry Gordon, was 3. There was a dog, too, though no one wrote
down its name.

Four people
who made the trip wrote about it. My
grandfather’s diary is one document. His brother
Charlie also kept a diary. TJ Senior
wrote a memoir toward the end of his life that included reflections on the Velasco
trip though almost no detail. And little
Harry wrote a lengthy poem, an epic poem, really, hundreds of stanzas that he called
“Resume.” It is about the life of the family, updating it as new generations were born and older ones passed, tapping
out the verses on an old Smith Corona until he died. I have three of the four. Only Charlie’s diary is missing.

The Velasco
trip was famous in the Hampson family. But as a disaster. No port was built. They could find little work in Velasco. The kids picked up driftwood and cut it for
sale to get food. TJ Senior went up
river and worked in a coal mine in East St. Louis to replenish their tiny grubstake and nearly lost his life. They returned to Colorado in less than two
years, getting out just ahead of the Galveston Hurricane that destroyed
everything there and would have destroyed them.

Going back
and forth to the Gulf of Mexico and to the Rockies was costly to the Hampson
family. Their first child, Richard
Leander, died of a fever at six years in McKinney, Texas while Hampson was
working on his tug boats. Charles
Foster, apparently fearless around dynamite, never quite got out of the hole on
a Bonanza rock face where he’d placed a bundle of it. Epenetus died shortly after they arrived in
Velasco and was buried on the beach where the family camped out. They could not afford a funeral.

My grandfather's diary is hardly chatty. Nearly always,
he mentions the weather, the condition of the roads, rabbits, quail or
rattlesnakes killed, miles traveled and whether the water is good or not. Sometimes he writes down a notable site -- the gallows they drove past in Seven Rivers, New Mexico. He's spare in showing his sense of humor, though it is clearly there. Originally, I began simply following the
day’s journey on a map, marking where they set up camp. But I soon began investigating issues raised
in the diary. “Do sheep kill
rattlesnakes?” “What battle played out here?” “Why is the road swampy?” “Why is the water bad?” “Who owned a ranch they stopped at and what
was the family like?” Just doing a little research, I'd find amazing questions, like “Why are there so many alligators in Mosca, Colorado?” Mostly, I learned several things about my grandfather from the text. Among them, he likes his sleep. The very first entry establishes that:

Sunday,
September 9. “Left Salida at 5:45
AM. Ouch!”

Many years later, Harry Hampson put
the day they left Colorado into verse with his always ironic touch:

Upon that ninth September day

The day of that memorable start

But yet, the prospect of such a trip,

A trip by wagon train,

Was quite appealing to most all hands

Trusting, twas not in vain.

Out thru the gate and across the bridge

Of the little Arkansas,

Covered wagon and buckboard rolled.

And through San Luis Valley we rolled

Our way to Texas.

And behind us, all that hidden gold.

Wednesday, Sept 12th - Broke camp south of Dunne at 8:45,
arrived at Garrison 10 a.m. Reached
Mosca, a milling town, at 12:40 and ate dinner here. Killed 2 rabbits. Met our friend, Doc Monahan, an old timer,
who was also leaving the country. He
rode all afternoon with us, went into camp on banks of the Rio Grande River at
Alamosa 7 p.m. Delayed in the morning by
having to hunt for our horses and also heavy roads (23 miles).

Mosca
refers to a mountain pass nearby, named after a Spanish Explorer, but it also
exists as a reminder of how the family business can evolve in ways never
anticipated, something a bit like the Hampson ancestors. A geothermal spring
provided warm water and an idea for Erwin and Lynne Young, who came along to
Mosca eighty years after the Hampsons.
In 1977, they decided to raise Tilapia and African Perch in the warm
ponds around their place. In 1987, they
read that alligators are very effective disposing of fish processing wastes and
purchased 100 one year old animals. Soon,
people wanted to see the gators and they opened the place to the public in
1990. They now take in reptiles who have
been abused or can no longer be cared for in residences. Their purpose is to make people aware of the
dangers of raising reptiles in a home setting.
The farm is home to “Gatorfest” on the first weekend of August where you
can observe a Gator Rodeo and Roundup.

The
reference to “heavy roads” is because of the Great Sand Dunes National Park,
the tallest sand dunes in North America, rising 750 feet above the valley floor. They have been building for 400,000 years or
more. The sand is deposited in the
eastern part of the valley where the strong winds from the west finally lay
down and release the sand they carry.

The party
continues on South past Mosca and encounters several pedestrian
disappointments. They leave a rifle
here, an axe there. They ride into Santa
Fe past a brand new reservoir. Today, the
river there is nearly restored. The
city’s first water reservoir, a privately built affair called the Stone Dam,
was built 13 years before the Hampson family passed through. The new dam he saw was completed in 1894, a
publicly owned dam called Two Mile Dam.
The Stone Dam filled in with sediment during a massive flood in 1904,
but Two Mile held up. Exactly 100 years
after its construction it is now gone, removed. How
amazed they would be to see it today. “How do you make a reservoir disappear?”

Confederate drummer before Glorieta Pass

Sunday, Sept 23rd -
Broke camp at 8:30 at Santa Fe. Got on
the wrong road and had to turn back. In
passing under a R.R. trestle, we damaged our wagon top. Broke some bows and tore canvas some. Concluded the bridge was too low or wagon top
too high. Ate dinner 12 miles from Santa
Fe. Killed one rattlesnake, 5 rattles
and a button. Arrived at the Plaza of
Gallisteo at 6:15 Went into camp in the
barnyard of Mr. Davis, owner of the Big Rancho there in Gallisteo. (24 miles).

More
than 30 years before the Hampsons camped in the Big Rancho, the Confederates
made a push to cut off the western part of the United States and did
surprisingly well, taking Santa Fe and Albuquerque and forcing the abandonment
of Fort Bliss. TJ Hampson senior had fought in the west and would have talked
about the Confederate initiative as the wagons banged along the same path taken
by 2500 Confederates until they were finally defeated at Glorieta Pass, a few miles up
the road.

Wednesday, Sept 26th -
Broke camp at Antelope Springs at 9:30
Ate dinner at the Salt
Lakes. Did not camp until 8 to
find water for horses but failed as usual.
Another dry camp. Oh! For some
good old Colorado water. Weather
good. Roads good (22 miles).

As
they approached Roswell, New Mexico, the slow travel contributes to an understanding
of how thin their existence on the road was and why they were constantly
hunting.

Friday, Oct 5th- Weather cloudy. Broke camp at 9:15. Traveled right on through to Roswell without
a stop for dinner for we had nothing to eat, so it was useless to stop, but
hard on the horses!

Saturday, Oct. 6th. Everyone seemed to be armed, a tough, wild
town as Pecos Valley Railroad was just building into Roswell and first train
got in today. Ate dinner at some alkali
wells. Could not drink the water so we
drank some whiskey.

Monday, Oct 8th -
Broke camp at Cottonwood Creek at 9. Saw
lots of antelope. Arrived at Rio Penasco
at 2 and ate dinner here. Went into camp
for the night at the water hole 6 miles from Rio Penasco at 6. Weather cool.
Roads fine. Expect to reach Eddy
(now Carlsbad) tomorrow. We are near
this town of Seven Rivers where a recent murder had just taken place. We can see from our camp the temporary scaffold
used for the hanging. (22 miles).

The
hanging took place three weeks before they observed the scaffold. The murderer was James Barrett, a small time
criminal whose drinking kept him in enough trouble that he had to leave his
home in Texas. In New Mexico, he lived in a tent city
for railroad workers in a place now covered by a reservoir. Barrett was a violent drunk and killed two
fellow workers as they slept in late July of 1893 by shooting them with a
shotgun.

Sheriff Kemp

Barrett’s last words were a kind
of crude pun, in which he told the crowd, a thousand or thereabouts, that he
was going to play a trick on Sheriff Dave Kemp who had told him that he would die
with his boots on. Barrett took his boots off! Barrett also asked to be buried
face down, a request the Sheriff denied. It was the last legal hanging in New Mexico,
but certainly not the last hanging. The sheriff
said he felt bad for Barrett and gave him some whiskey before the hanging, but
regretted the kindness later.

What
a violent culture lived in those tiny towns in the mountains of New
Mexico. In 1988, an irrigation project called Brantley Dam was scheduled to flood the old town site and its
cemetery. There were 55 skeletons in the
cemetery and they were exhumed and examined by forensic experts and scientists. Of 15 men between 18 and 45 buried there, ten
had died violently in the community’s short frontier life.

Wednesday, October 10. Water
scarce and much alkali. We intend to lay
over here until we can find out the best route and get some clothes washed. Water hard.
Weather good. Roads rough. (5 miles)

One
of the toughest pulls of the trip was ahead of them, the great, sandy wastes
called “The Staked Plains.” Some days
they made a handful of miles and had to double up the horses and pull just one
wagon at a time. One night, the 13 year
old Chester, was left overnight in the buckboard as the horses were
too tired to go back and get him.

Saturday, Oct 13th - Broke camp at 8 AM. Roads sandy and rough. Very heavy pull and hard on our poor
animals. SAND! SAND! Ate dinner near a waterhole 12:30. Killed 2 rattlers and 2 rabbits. Saw some quail. Went into camp for the night near a salt
lake. The great Llanno Estacada, UGH
! Water no good. We have the whisky handy for this part of the
trip. It will suffer. With all the snakes and alkali and saline
water. Weather nice. Roads awful or trails. I call ‘em.
Can’t see any roads sometimes.
(17 miles)

On
October 18th, they crossed the border into Texas in the hands of two
sheep ranchers. They see no more
rattlesnakes since the great herds of sheep being driven to ports in Texas have
killed all the rattlesnakes along the trail.
In the first days of the Staked Hills, my grandfather writes of killing
four or five rattlesnakes a day. Once in
sheep country, they saw none.

Friday, Oct 26th - Broke camp at 8:30. We un-trailed the wagons which we had trailed
the past 4 days on account such heavy, sandy roads. Ate dinner at a waterhole 17 miles from
Midland, Texas. Reached Midland (the
city of wind mills) at 4. Bought some
groceries and went into camp one mile east of town in a pasture near the Texas
Pacific Railroad. Roads hard and
sandy. (13 miles)

A
great many windmills were pulling water out of the great Ogallala Aquifer
underneath several states in the Midwest, including the Texas town of
Midland. The Eclipse, one of the top brands in the world
until after World War I, was
everywhere, especially in the windy plains the Hampsons were crossing at the
end of October, 1894.

The
Eclipse was the beginning of the Ogallala Aquifer's troubling story. Among the world’s
largest, it has lost half of the 12 million years of rain water that originally filled
it up. Many farmers there believe that
they have 20 years of water left.

A
reality of travel then was the whereabouts and health of the animals who pulled
all the weight. Hampson documents four
days that ended bad for ‘Old Charlie.’

Tuesday, Oct 30th -
Very cold night, heavy frost. Had to
hunt for old Charlie who had wandered away the evening before. Found him about 4 miles from our camp. Broke camp at 9:45. Reached an alkali wind mill about 2 miles
from camp. Water too bad to drink (drank
whiskey). Had to go 7 miles further to
get water. Arrived at Big Springs at
3. Made camp. (11 miles)

Thursday, Nov 1st -
Broke camp at 9:30. Watered part of the
stock at a waterhole, short distance from camp.
Old Charlie got stuck in the mud and fell down. Had to pull him out. Killed 3 rabbits. Ate dinner near a wind mill. Went into camp on the Concho Creek 8 miles
from Sterling. Weather very windy. (20 miles)

Friday, Nov 2nd - Broke camp at
10. Delayed in hunting for pecans. Papa, Mamma and grandmother all sick. Left old Charlie to rustle for himself. Was too old to travel further. Arrived at Sterling at 1. Ate dinner below town. Went into camp for the night on Concho Creek.,
8 miles from Sterling. Weather cool and
clear. Killed 2 rabbits. (16 miles)

Sunday, Nov 4th -
Spent most of the afternoon gathering pecans.
Broke camp at 11. Did not make
any stop for dinner. Went into camp for
the night on Concho Creek in Mr. Shields’ pasture about two miles from city of
San Angelo. Weather cool and clear. Roads good.
Killed 2 rabbits. Mr. Shields,
sheriff of Tom Green Co.,
asked Dad to work for him for re-election in Tuesday’s election. Dad did and Shields was elected. (16 miles)

Reading
about my great grandfather, I get the impression he was an easy talker. I can see him arranging for space in Mr. Shields’ pasture, and then, after hearing
that Mr. Shields was also running for sheriff after three terms as hide and
animal inspector for the county, my great grandfather lets it drop that he had been elected mayor of
a small town in Garfield County, Colorado and knew a thing or two about
politics and frontier justice. Shields then
lets it drop that he could use a little help on election day and so the animals
picked up an extra day or two of rest.

Tom Ketchum on the gallows

San
Angelo was the home of Tom Ketchum, sometimes a cowboy but also a prolific
train robber, then a capital crime in Texas.
Shields’ first arrest as sheriff was of Ketchum and it was good that he
confronted him early in his career because Ketchum became a criminal who killed people without
obvious remorse. Fortunately, Ketchum
was hung in an adjacent county before he became Shields’ last arrest.

On
election day, the Hampson wagons made just three miles.

Tuesday, Nov 13th – Broke camp at
9:30. Arrived at Pontotoc at 11:30. Ate dinner 3 miles from the town at Mr.
Graham’s farm. Went into camp at 5. Weather warm.
Roads rough and sandy. Getting
into pecan country now. (12 miles)

Pontotoc, Texas

Not
only pecan country, but wine country as well.
The German Emigration Company, an institution formed in Germany for the
purpose of colonizing in the new world had focused first on the Republic of
Texas. The company imported seven
thousand Germans to Texas between 1840 and 1847, most of them to the lovely
Texas Hill Country North and West of Austin.

In
1872, they began growing grapes and making wine in Pontotoc. A series of epidemics nearly wiped out the residents
of the town by the time the Hampson wagons rolled through and there were fires
too. A Texas family is growing grapes
and making wine there today, though it is a wine few Germans then had ever
heard of – Temperanillo.

Tuesday, Nov 20th –
Broke camp at 9. Arrived at Oatmanville
at 11:30. Ate dinner one mile from the
town. Arrived at Austin, the state’s
capital, at 5. Went into camp on the
banks of the Colorado River. Went uptown
and got the mail, including dad’s pension check. Weather fair, roads rough . (15 miles)

Hampson
was awarded a pension in 1877 for the injuries he sustained during his Civil War
service. In that year, Hampson and
114,000 Civil War veterans received their new pensions. There are some estimates that as much as 40%
of the federal budget at the turn of the century was comprised of pension
benefits to veterans and their survivors, most from the Civil War. A huge veterans organization, The Grand Army
of the Republic, was in place at the time and comprised some 400,000 members devoted
to veterans’ issues. The elder Hampson
was an enthusiastic member of the organization.

There
were many different levels of pension payments. In 1894, Hampson may have been receiving
$15-$20/month, worth about $500 dollars a month today.

Thursday, Nov 29th –
Thanksgiving day, but no pumpkin pies?
Broke camp on Johnson’s Farm at 9:15.
Arrived at Gonzales at 11. Had
two of our horses shod. Went into camp
for the night on the banks of the Guadaloupe River, one mile from
Gonzales. Expect to stop here for awhile
and make future arrangements for the trip.
Weather warm, roads good. (16 miles)

It’s
unclear what other arrangements were, but the Hampsons certainly decided to
enhance their grubstake by picking a little cotton. Over the next week, the family picked 2,000 pounds of cotton, then worth just
under two cents a pound. They would take
the proceeds, about 36 dollars, into Velasco, their last stop.

Friday, Dec 21, 1894 – Broke camp
at 9:15. Arrived at the San Bernard
River at 10:30. Ate dinner in a large
pasture 7 miles from camp. Arrived at
VELASCO TEXAS on the banks of the Brazos River at 5. Weather good, roads muddy and rough. (15
miles) This completing our long and
memorable journey of 1380 miles.

Years
later, Harry Hampson recalled the ambivalence of the moment with a rhyme from
his poem.

Upon arriving the river Brazos,

The site of the harbor proposed,

At the little village of Velasco

Where millions of mosquitoes reposed.

We met not a glorious outlook

Living conditions looked slim,

Nevertheless, here we are,

Sort of wondering why we came.

The senior T. J. Hampson’s
Memoir, unfortunately, shuts down in 1870 when he has the tugboats and the good
life along Pensacola Bay. But he was
writing his account of things in the 1920s so he had the ability to look back
at what was nearly the whole of his life and that of his family:

Hampson Bros and Valdez wagon at the new store
in Rifle, Colorado. My grandfather holds the reins.

Well, to sum it all up; on one hand,
financially, we have not been a success, and many a bitter disappointment has
come to us. That is all down on one side
of life’s ledger; on the side, we can show a family of good, true and dutiful
children. Children that any parent could
be proud of; so the books will balance, and we will let it go at that and be
satisfied.

His children –
and his sunny disposition -- were clearly his salvation. His son Thomas, my grandfather, started
working at a small grocery store in Velasco because he so hated chopping
wood. He convinced the store owner to
open a store back in Colorado, in Grand Junction. When they turned the wagons around in 1896 and headed back up the way they came, they had a place to go and a living to
make.

(L to R) Anna Ruby, Harry, Unknown Boy and Lida Valdez

Soon there was a new partner, Don Valdez, a Spaniard who’d actually found a bit of gold in the Rockies, managing the successful Madonna Mine. The partnership would open three grocery stores– one in Grand
Junction, one in Rifle and one in Salida, each managed by a different Hampson
boy. Leander married the Valdez daughter, Lida, providing, at last, all the elements of a happy ending to an arduous journey.

The full diary follows.

DIARY OF T.J.
HAMPSON

SALIDA COLORADO

SEPTEMBER 9, 1894

In
route to Velasco, Texas

December
21, 1894

Sunday
– Sept 9, 1894 - Left Salida at 5:45
a.m. (“ouch”) that was early for us and only happened once (author’s mental
note). Reached Poncha Junction at
7:15. Arrived at summit of Poncha Pass
at 1:15. Met there, our old friend Titus
P. Lewis who had arrived there on a train to have a last talk with us and to
bid us goodbye. Bless the old man’s
heart; it warmed us toward our friend (a real one) a lot. Rained all afternoon and we went onto camp at
Round Hill at 3 p.m. (17 miles). Over
9000’, large rift valley

Monday,
Sept 10th - Broke camp at 9 a.m.
Reached Villa Grove at 1:30., ate dinner. Afternoon killed 3 rabbits. Did not stop for night camp until 8 p.m. on
account of lack of good water. Went into
camp at an artesian well on a big San Louis Valley Ranch. Was nice today after the big rain of the day
and night before (25 miles).

Tuesday,
Sept 11th- Broke camp at Artesian Well Ranch at 9 a.m. Arrived at Moffat at 1:30. Ate dinner at the old abandoned ranch with an
artesian well on it. In the Afternoon
killed 5 rabbits. West into camp 3 miles
south of Dunne (San Louis Valley) at 7 o’clock.
Roads swampy and bad (20 miles).

Wednesday,
Sept 12th - Broke camp south of Dunne at 8:45, arrived at Garrison
10 a.m. Reached Mosca, a milling town,
at 12:40 and ate dinner here. Killed 2
rabbits. Met our friend, Doc Monahan,
and old timer, who was also leaving the country. He rode all afternoon with us, went into camp
on banks of the Rio Grande River at Alamosa 7 p.m. Delayed in the morning by having to hunt for
our horses and also heavy roads (23
miles).

Thursday,
Sept 13th - Doc Monahan still with us. He wants to go to Tres Piedras, N.M. with
us. Broke camp on Rio Grande, crossed
bridge into city of Alamosa, Colorado, metropolis of the San Louis Valley 9
p.m., delayed two hours getting gun repaired.
Wrote card to McK & K., Salida, at dinner at the Empire Farm. Crossed the Alamosa River, also the La Jara
River and arrived at town of La Jara at 6 p.m.
Went into camp here. Weather very
windy. Distance traveled during the day,
15 miles. This makes a total of 100
miles traveled so far since leaving Salida.

Friday,
Sept 14th - Broke camp at La Jara at 9:15. Ate dinner two miles north of Conejos at
5:p.m. Tried to find a place to do some
fishing and spend the night, but failed after wasting much time. Arrived at Antonito at 6:30. Went into camp on the north bank San Antonio
Creek. Here was our fishing. (16 miles)

Saturday,
Sept 15th - Stayed in camp all day to learn the route to Santa Fe,
and to have the Winchester rifle, which we left at campground at La Jara,
forwarded to us at Antonito. Cost us
$1.90 to have gun recovered and sent on to us.
Caught over 50 mountain trout near camp in San Antonito creek. Went to Antonito 2 miles from camp in the
afternoon and got our gun from Ry. Ex. Co.
Wind blew all afternoon.

Sunday,
Sept 16th - Broke camp at 8 a.m.
Filled up the water barrel at the bridge over San Antonito creek to last
us for the whole day. Went half mile,
and lost the road. Found road after half
hour’s hunt. Crossed the state line from
Colorado into New Mexico at 10:30 Ate
dinner at Round Mountain at 12:30.
Killed two rabbits. Reached water
at 6:30 and went into camp. Roads fair,
weather nice. (25 miles)

Monday Sept 17th - (Chrs.
Birthday) Broke camp at 9:20 in the head
of Comanche Canon. Reached Tres Piedras,
N.M. at noon. Bought some mdse. And ate
dinner on the outskirts of town. Mr.
Sherlock took dinner with us. Dr.
Monahan left us at this place. We
started out after dinner expecting to reach water 15 miles out as directed but
failed. We kept traveling until 10 p.m.
hoping to get water but got onto wrong road and concluded to make a dry camp
without water. Roads very rough. Wild country.
(33 miles)

Tuesday, Sept 18th - Bought some
watermelons and they were green. Broke
camp at 9 a.m. Prepared to make a ten
mile drive to water. On the way we broke
the tongue of the light spring wagon.
Fixed it up temporarily. Lasted
until we were coming down a steep hill to water when it broke again. Ate dinner at some Mexican ranches. After dinner with the help of a Mexican,
fixed it up again. Crossed Collienthe
creek. Went about a mile when it began
to rain. Went into camp near the creek. We went to the creek to get water to cook
supper but creek was so high and muddy had to go without water again. Roads wet and rough. Kept watch over our horses all night (12
miles).

Wednesday, Sept 19th - Broke
camp on Collienthe (hot) creek at 9:15 a.m.
Ate dinner at Lone Rock on the creek.
Arrived at mouth of Chama River 3:30 p.m. Went into camp at the Mexican town of Chamita
at 6:30. Bought hay, wood, produce from
the Mexicans who seemed to be clever and friendly. Roads very sandy and rough. Kept close watch on camp and horses. (13 miles)

Thursday, Sept 20th- Broke camp
at 10 a.m. at Chamita. Crossed the old
Rio Grande River and entered the old Indian village of San Juan at 10:30. Recrossed the Rio Grande into Espanola at
noon. Bought some mdse. And again
crossed the Rio Grande to get on the right road to Santa Fe. Ate dinner at Mexican ranch one mile from
Espanola. Went into camp at dark on
Powhacken creek near town of the same name.
(18 miles).

Friday, Sept 21st - Struck camp
on Powhacken creek at 8:30. Had to work
on broken wagon tongue. Ate dinner on
Santa Fe creek. Passed some very nice
fruit tree orchards and farms on the way and arrived at Santa Fe, capital and
the largest city of New Mexico, at 5:15
p.m. Passed the rifle range of Fort
Marcy here. Went into camp at Santa Fe
on the outskirts of the city near the new reservoir for the city. Roads sandy and hilly (18 miles).

Saturday, Sept 22nd - Laid over here at Santa Fe to rest up while
having the blacksmith make us a new wagon tongue and to view the sights. Also to try and locate our route to the gulf
coast and lay in a supply of groceries to last us on the trip. Saw the following: U.S. Barracks and the Fort where two
companies of the U.S. Tenth Infantry were stationed, Officers Quarters,
Capitol Building, public plaza, old Spanish ruins. Third oldest town in U.S., settled in
1682. Went to bed early to prepare for a
early start in the morning.

Sunday, Sept 23rd - Broke camp
at 8:30 at Santa Fe. Got on the wrong
road and had to turn back. In passing
under a R.R. trestle, we damaged our wagon top.
Broke some bows and tore canvas some.
Concluded the bridge was to low or wagon top too high. Ate dinner 12 miles from Santa Fe. Killed one rattlesnake, 5 rattles and a
button. Arrived at the Plaza of
Gallistaeons at 6:15 Went into camp in
the barnyard of Mr. Davis, owner of the Big Rancho there in Gallisteons. (24 miles).

Monday, Sept 24th - Broke camp
at the Davis rancho at 9 a.m. we left
our axe at Davis’s (ouch!) Ate dinner on
the big sheep ranch 12 miles from our morning camp. During the afternoon saw 7 antelope. Too far off to shoot at. Traveled until 8 p.m. to get to water but
went into a dry camp without water, our second waterless camp on this trip with
one camp too muddy to use. Fine road all
day and weather was fine (25 miles).

Tuesday, Sept 25th - Broke camp
at 8:30 a.m. 3 mile from Stinking
Springs (bad smelling) Watered the horses at a lake one mile from
camp. Arrived at B.S. Springs at 9:45
a.m. ate dinner 12 miles from antelope spring.
Saw plenty of ducks, and eight more antelope. Killed 2 rabbits and 2 pigeons. Pigeons were tame and we had permission to
get them. Arrived at Antelope Springs at
5:30. Went into camp here. Nice country but no good drinking water. Roads fine (23 miles) .

Wednesday, Sept 26th - Broke
camp at Antelope Springs at 9:30 Ate
dinner at the Salt Lakes. John Sheeley and John Lovely joined our force
here for a few days of until 8 to find
water for horses but failed as usual.
Another dry camp. Oh! For some
good old Colorado water. Weather
good. Roads good (22 miles).

Thursday, Sept 27th - Saw the
watering place in the morning right near camp.
Watered all the stock. Broke camp
at 8:30. Ate dinner 8 miles from Pinos Wells.
Arrived at Pinos Wells at 5:30 and got the 1st water since
leaving camp in the morning. Bought some
mdse which was very high. Went into
camp, road and weather fine (20 miles).

Friday Sept 28th - Broke camp at
9 a.m. Ate dinner 11 miles from the
wells. Arrived at the Guyena water hole
at 6 p.m. and went into camp. Roads good
but upgrade mostly. Weather cool and
windy. Killed 2 rabbits. Charlie had a near accident here. After we made camp he decided to ride one of
the boys’ horses. A nervous animal. As Charlie got one foot in the stirrup, the
horse made several jumps before Charlie could get the other leg over the
horse. John Lovely saw the situation at
a glance and with lightning movement he caught Charlie’s horse before he made
40 feet. (22 miles).

Saturday, Sept 29th - Broke camp
at the Guyenas at 8:50. Ate dinner 12
miles from the water holes. Arrived at
the Chipadaro Ranch at 6:30 and went into camp.
Got some antelope meat from the proprietor of the ranch. Had to pay (1st time) for the
water we used for the stock. Weather
very cool, roads fair. Killed two
rabbits. (22 miles).

Sunday, Sept 30th - Broke camp
at 9:15. Charlie, Jack and myself went
ahead on the saddle horses to a big lake to hunt ducks, only got one. Ate dinner 10 miles from the famous Block
Ranch, supposed to be the largest cattle ranch in New Mexico. In the afternoon Leander lost his purse with
all his wealth in it. ($0.90). Arrived
at an old vacant house on the Block Ranch at 5:30 in a cold rain storm and went
into camp for the night. (20 miles)

Monday, Oct 1st - Laid over at
the Block Ranch to rest up the horses and get some groceries. Ranch rather quiet as they had just sent a
big trail herd of cattle to Amarillo, Texas, nearest R.R. shipping point for
them. Weather clear and cool. Killed 2 rabbits. J. Sheeley went to hunt up a cousin employed
by the ranch. He was gone all day. J Lovely and self went to ranch store to buy
groceries. Store manager gave us a check
for the change. Had to go back and get
check exchanged for the mazuma (money).
Had one of the saddle horses shod.
Ranch store site of Richardson, town.

Tuesday, Oct 2nd- Broke camp at
the Block ranch in the El Capitan Mountains at 8:45. Ate dinner in salt creek canon. Traveled until 7 in the enening to get water
for stock. Went into camp by a big pool
of water in the creek bed. Weather fine,
roads very rough. (25 miles)

Wednesday, Oct 3rd - Broke camp
at 8:45. Saw two deer. Killed 3 rabbits, 2 ducks, and 4 quail. Real hunting country this! Ate dinner on salt creek. Went into camp at Cedar Hill for the night at
5:15. Had an early supper. Plenty of company, it being an old camping
ground. Weather fine, roads sandy and
rough. (18 miles).

Thursday, Oct 4th - Broke camp
at Cedar Hill at 8:40. Got enough wood gathered
to last us 3 days use as the valley we are heading into they tell us, had no
wood. They have to haul it from 40 to 50
miles. Arrived at some Texas ranches on
Salt Creek at 12:30 and ate dinner. Not
too much too here either for our horses or ourselves. Lovely and Sheeley at dinner with Mr. Muskra
and they stayed all night for a dance.
We continued on toward Roswell and left the boys here. Went into camp near a water hole at 6. (18
miles).

Friday, Oct 5th- Weather
cloudy. Broke camp at 9:15. Traveled right on through to Roswell without
stop for dinner for we had nothing to eat, so it was useless to stop, but hard
on the horses.l Arrived at Roswell in
the Pecos Valley at 3 and went into camp on Spring River on the outskirts of
town. Went into town at once to get some
grub before we could cook supper. We got
plenty and watermelons too. Wrote card
to McKenna and K. Roads fine (17 miles).

Saturday, Oct 6th - Went up
town, father and self, and everyone seemed to be armed, a tough, wild town as
Pecos valley railroad was just building into Roswell and first train got in
today. Contractor’s name was Joe Hampson
K.C. Broke camp on Spring River 9
a.m. Passed through Roswell and laid in
another supply of grub to last us to Eddy.
Ate dinner at some alkali wells.
Could not drink the water so we drank some whiskey. Arrived at the Salise 6:30 and went into
camp. Water everywhere but all very
bad. We were directed to a good drinking
spring but could not find it. Roads and
weather fine. (25 miles)

Sunday, Oct 7th- Broke camp on
the Salise at 9:30. Kept close watch as
this was a “hoss thief section”. Saw
hundreds of antelope during the days travel.
Tried to get in gunshot at one and chanced one shot, but it wasn’t close
enough to get him. Ate dinner below Tar
Lake on Mr. Brown’s Ranch. We were directed to a spring on Cottonwood Creek for
our night campsite but went too far and had to turn back about 3 miles. Roads fair and weather good. Went into camp at the spring at 6. (20

Monday, Oct 8th - Broke camp at
Cottonwood Creek at 9. Saw lots of
antelope. Arrived at Rio Penasco at 2
and ate dinner here. Went into camp for
the night at the water hole 6 miles from Rio Penasco at 6. Weather cool.
Roads fine. Expect to reach Eddy
(now Carlsbad) tomorrow. We are near
this town of Seven Rivers where a recent murder had just taken place. (22 miles).

Tuesday Oct 9th- Broke camp at
8:30. Arrived at Seven Rivers at
noon. Went one mile south of town and
ate dinner. Traveled all afternoon but
did not reach Eddy. Went into camp 4
miles this side of eddy at Limestone Hill near the Pecos River. Killed one duck and 3 rabbits. Weather clear and warm. Roads fine (20 miles).

Wednesday, Oct 10th - Broke camp
at 10. Before we started I shaved Dad
and wanted to cut his hair but he would have none of it (I don’t blame
him). This caused the late start. Arrived at Eddy at 11:30. Bought some mdse. And went one mile south of
town and went into camp. Water scarce
and much alkali. We intend to lay over
here until we can find out the best route and get some clothes washed. Water hard.
Weather good. Roads rough. (5
miles)

Thursday, Oct 11th - Laid over
here at Eddy. Weather hot in forenoon
and rain in afternoon. We can see from
out camp the temporary scaffold built to hang the Seven Rivers murderers
on. It looks awesome to we kids. Went up town in forenoon and laid in a supply
of mdse and feed to last us through the Staked Plains. Got one horse shod. Washed up the dirty clothes. Found out the best route to Velasco via
Midland, Texas. Prepared to get early
start next morning.

Friday, Oct 12th - Broke camp at
Eddy at 8:30. Crossed the Pecos River
and entered the hills South East of Eddy and headed for Midland, an estimated
two week’s trek, for heavily loaded vehicles as ours, through the sand. This part of our trip across the Staked
Plains is the worst and most dreaded part of our trip through sand nearly all
the way and infested with rattlesnakes.
Saw no life today, just a windmill or two and one herder’s abode. Roads not much, terrible. Had water with us. Ate dinner in sand dunes hear a
waterhole. Made camp in evening at 5:30
for the night. (17 miles).

Saturday, Oct 13th - Broke camp
at 8 am Roads sandy and rough. Very heavy pull and hard on our poor animals. SAND! SAND!
Ate dinner near a waterhole 12:30.
Killed 2 rattlers and 2 rabbits.
Saw some quail. Went into camp
for the night near a salt lake. The
great Llanno Estacada, UGH ! Water no
good. We have the whiskey handy for this
part of the trip. It will suffer. With all the snakes and alkali and saline
water. Weather nice. Roads awful or trails. I call ‘em.
Can’t see any roads sometimes.
(17 miles)

Sunday, Oct 14th - Wild country
this. Heard some coyotes last
night. Laid over one half day to rest
horses. We all felt sorry for our
animals. Looks like we may have to
double up our teams. Make two trips on
some of route through the sand. Got some
more directions as how to reach Midland from sheep man. As we proceed further, it looks worse, these
saline “wastes.” Struck camp after
dinner. Went on around the lake and
struck in through the sand hills again.
Hills covered with sheep brush or chapparal. Finally got through this bunch of sand hills
and went into camp at another salt lake at 5.
Weather nice, roads awful. (8 miles)

Monday, Oct 15th - Broke camp at
7:15. Got on the wrong road and had to
pull through an old salt lake 3 miles out of our way. Had to double up to pull out of the lake. Arrived at 2nd salt lake today at
11:30. Ate dinner 2 miles further
on. Arrived at some more sand hills at
about 2:30. Went one half mile on the
sand and had to double up again. Left
Chester with the spring wagon while we went on with rest of the outfit. Heavy sand for 6 miles. Arrived at the Hillburn Wells at the foot of
the plains at about 6:30 and went into camp intending to go back after the
spring wagon in the morning and see if Chet was still there. Some heck of a day. Mother and grandma worrying about Chet. Killed 3 rattlers, one rabbit. Weather cloudy, roads very heavy and very
sandy. Nothing but sand for another week
or more is the outlook. (14 miles)

Tuesday, Oct 16th - Charlie and
myself left camp with all 5 horses to go back after Chet and the spring
wagon. Chet had stayed out in the sand
hills all night and slept Made good time with the lighter load. Laid over the rest of the day and prepared
camp for the night at the wells. Killed
2 rattlers and 6 rabbits. Lee did some shooting. Weather cloudy, roads sandy. Nothing gained in distance.

Wednesday, Oct 17th - Broke camp
at the wells at 9:45. Accompanied by
Mr. Hillburn and Mr. Faulkner who are going to pilot us as far as their eastern
sheep ranch 60 miles from Midland (west).
Watered the horses at a large lake 7 miles from Hillburn’s wells. Went two miles further and ate dinner. Arrived at Monument Springs at 4:30. Went 3 miles and went into camp for the
night. Roads good today for a
change. Some rocks too! (18 miles)

Thursday, Oct 18th - Broke camp
at 8 a.m. Passed one sheep ranch and
arrived at the Cowdon Ranch at 12. Ate
dinner. Arrived at the Fox Ranch at 4
and watered the stock. Went 5 miles
further and went into camp. 3 miles of
the 5 being deep sand. Crossed the New
Mex/Texas state line during the afternoon.
So now we are Texans! Well we
finally got into Texas. Weather good,
roads (with the exception of the 3 miles of sand) good. No rattlers lately. Mr. Hillburn stated that the sheep killed all
the rattlers. (20 miles)

Friday,
Oct 19th - Broke camp at 8 in the midst of heavy sands. Sand continued for two miles or until we
reached the head of Seminole Draw. Shot
at 2 antelope but missed. Arrived at the
J.M. Wind Mills #1 at 10:30. Ate dinner
at the J. M. Wind Mills #2. Mr. Faulkner left us at this place. Mr. Hillburn went on ahead. We went into camp at some windmills 8 miles
further on. Roads good, except the sand,
and weather nicer. (20 miles)

Saturday, Oct 20th- Broke camp
at 8:30. Went to Teal Wells and from
there to Hillburn’s sheep ranch. Arrived
here at 11 and staid until 2:30 to find out route to Midland and get some
provisions which we were badly in need of.
Went on to the Eclipse Wind Mills and went into camp 2 miles below the
mill. Killed 1 curlew and 1 crane. Weather windy and cloudy and wet! Roads fair (12 miles)

Sunday, Oct 21st - Laid over to
rest up the horses and keep the Sabbath.
Killed 2 rabbits and one curlew.
Weather clear and warm. Charlie
doing a lot of hunting today. Total
distance traveled up to date since leaving Salida figures up to even 710
miles. Went to bed feeling much better
as worst of the plains is over.

Monday, Oct 22nd - Broke camp at
8:15. Ate dinner in Sulphur Draw
opposite some wind mills 10 miles from camp.
Had to cross the wide open spaces to get water, two miles from the
road. Went into camp for the night one
mile from an alkali wind mill in order to get grass for horses. Killed 4 quail and 3 rabbits. Weather good, roads sandy. (20 miles)

Tuesday, Oct 23rd- Broke camp at
8:30. Watered the stock at the alkali
well. Water very bad. Arrived at the Five Wells Wind Mills. Filled up our water barrel at Mill #1,
awfully poor water, lots of gyp in it.
An awful drain on the fire water.
Bought some grub at 5 Wells Ranch and went one mile further and went
into camp for our noonday meal.
Concluded to stay here the rest of the day and rest up the horses, so we
made camp for the night. Lots sand and
more ahead of us. Killed 4 curlew. Roads sandy.
(8 miles)

Wedneday, Oct 24th - Broke camp
at 8:30. Had an hour’s hunt for the
horses. Arrived at the 5 Wells Wind Mill
east of the sand at 11:30. Went 2 miles
more and ate dinner. Relieved to get
through the sand okay. Traveled until 7
to find some water and grass but without much success. Went into camp 3 miles from the U.L.
Ranch. Killed 4 curlew yesterday and got
5 rabbits today. Weather clear and roads
sandy, sandy. (18 miles).

Thursday, Oct 25th - Grandma’s
birthday today. 83 years old. A seven day wonder is our grandma to stand,
so well, such a hard trip. Hats off,
congratulations to her on this her birthday.
Broke camp at 9. Arrived at the
U.L. Ranch at 10:30 and filled barrel and watered horses. The first real good water, since leaving the
Block Ranch. Went 4 miles and ate
dinner. Went into camp for the night in
a large pasture. Killed 3 rabbits. Weather warm and windy. Roads good.
(13 miles)

Friday, Oct 26th - Broke camp at
8:30. We untrailed the wagons which we
had trailed the past 4 days on account such heavy, sandy roads. Ate dinner dinner at a waterhole 17 miles
from Midland, Texas. Reached Midland
(the city of wind mills) at 4. Bought
some groceries and went into camp one mile east of town in a pasture near the
ToPac. Railroad. First railroad we have seen since leaving
Eddy, New Mexico. Weather cool and
windy, account of wind mills. Roads hard
and sandy. (13 miles)

Saturday, Oct 27th - Lay’ed over
½ day at Midland to get a supply of grub.
Broke camp at 12:30. Went into
camp for the night 7 miles from Stanton.
Weather is clear and much wind (for the wind mills). Roads good.
No rabbits today. Distance
traveled for the half day, 12 miles. All
are thankful that we are across the Staked Plains.

Sunday, Oct 28th - Celebrated
dad’s birthday today, 52 years old. It
was the Sabbath so we lay’ed over and rested up. Dad got his birthday haircut in Midland and 2
big cigars. Mother had an extra nice
meal for him with real beefsteak. The
one thing to mar the day was a hard cold wind and it lasted all day and night
too. Will certainly be glad when we get
away from those pesky wind mills.
Everything including our craws are fill of sand. Killed two rabbits.

Monday, Oct 29th - Broke camp at 9:15. Went two miles further and ate dinner. Reached a wind mill in the afternoon and
loaded up with water. Traveled six miles
farther on and went into camp for the evening.
Killed 4 rabbits. Weather
cold. Roads heavy. (17 miles)

Tuesday, Oct 30th - Very cold
night, heavy frost. Had a hunt for old
Charlie who had wandered away the evening before. Found him about 4 miles from our camp. Broke camp at 9:45. Reached a alkali wind mill about 2 miles from
camp. Water too bad to drink (drank
whiskey). Had to go 7 miles further to
get water we could drink. Arrived at Big
Springs at 3. Made camp. Went uptown and got grub enough to get to San
Angelo. (11 miles)

Wednesday, Oct 31st - Very cold
night, heavy frost. Broke camp at Big
Springs on Tex Pacific RR at 9:15.
Watered the stock at the same wind mill we did yesterday. Ate dinner 6 miles from Burns place. Reached Burns place at 4:45. Traveled 1 miles further and went into
camp. Weather good, roads fine. (17 miles)

Thursday, Nov 1st - Broke camp
at 9:30. Watered part of the stock at a
waterhole, short distance from camp. Old
Charlie got stuck in the mud and fell down.
Had to pull him out. Killed 3
rabbits. Ate dinner near a wind
mill. Went into camp on the Concho Creek
8 miles from Sterling. Weather very
windy. (20 miles)

Friday, Nov 2nd - Broke camp at 10. Delayed in hunting for pecans. Papa, Mamma and grandmother all sick. Left old Charlie to rustle for himself. Was too old to travel further. Arrived at Sterling at 1. Ate dinner below town. Went into camp for the night on Concho Creek,
8 miles from Sterling. Weather cool and
clear. Killed 2 rabbits. (16 miles)

Saturday, Nov 3rd- Leander’s 13th
birthday. Broke camp at 9:30. Ate dinner 9 miles from camp. Arrived at a small Texas settlement at
4. Traveled 4 miles farther and went
into camp for the night on Concho Creek.
Weather fair, roads fair. We are
18 miles from San Angelo. (16 miles)

Sunday, Nov 4th - Spent most of
the afternoon gathering pecans. Broke
camp at 11. Did not make any stop for
dinner. Went into camp for the night on
Concho Creek in Mr. Shields’ pasture about two miles from cith of San
Angelo. Weather cool and clear. Roads good.
Killed 2 rabbits. Mr. Shields,
sheriff of Tom Green Co., ask Dad to work for him for re-election in Tuesday’s
election. Dad did and Shields was
elected. (16 miles)

Monday Nov 5th - Laid over in
camp to rest up. Went up town. Stayed all day in San Angelo and got feed and
groceries. Wrote cards to MeKenna and
Kerndt and Mr. H.J. Faulk of Salida.
Found out the best route via the Capitol City of Austin, Texas. Caught 2 catfish in the Concho. Weather good.

Tuesday, Nov 6th - Election
day. Very lively up town. Broke camp at 9:45 for the purpose of getting
better camping place to wash up all the dirty clothes (plenty of them). Went about 2 miles from town and went into
camp on the South Concho. Dad in San
Angelo electioneering. Weather is
fine. (4 miles)

Wednesday, Nov 7th - Broke camp
at San Angelo at 9:30. Ate dinner near a
Dist. Schoolhouse about 9 miles from San Angelo. Went into camp in a large mesquite pasture at
5:30. Wether cool and windy. Roads good (18 miles)

Thursday, Nov 8th – Broke camp
at 9:30. Crossed Kickapoo Creek at
11. Got on the wrong road and had to take
an old road. Lost one mile in distance by
the mistake. Went into camp near an old
sheep ranch with a spring on it. Weather
clear. Roads rocky in places (18 miles)

Friday, Nov 9th – Broke camp at
9:45. Arrived at Eden at 1: Got some groceries and found the route to
travel. Went the other side of town and
ate dinner. Went into camp near a small
creek at 7:30. Weather fair, roads
pretty rocky. (20 miles – total of miles
traveled to date – 967)

Saturday, Nov 10th – Broke camp
at 9. Pretty good time for us (Thoughts
of author). Ate dinner 10 miles
Brady. Arrived at the town of Brady at 6
and went into camp on the north bank of Brady Creek. Went uptown to get some feed. Weather cold and cloudy. Roads rocky (25 miles)

Sunday, Nov 11th – Broke camp at
10. Stopped in town to get some
groceries and find out the route via Llano.
Ate dinner on banks of San Saba River at 3. Passed thru the small settlement of Voca at
5. Traveled 2 miles farther and went
into camp. Weather cool and cloudy. Roads rough and sandy. (15 miles)

Monday, Nov 12th – Kept close
watch of the horses all of last night.
Broke camp on Tiger Creek at 10.
Ate dinner 8 miles from camp.
Went into camp for the night 4 miles from Pontotoc. Weather clear and warm. Roads rough and sandy. Reputation of this section bad for horse
thieves. (15 miles)

Tuesday, Nov 13th – Broke camp at
9:30. Arrived at Pontotoc at 11:30. Ate dinner 3 miles from the town of Mr.
Graham’s farm. Went into camp at 5. Weather warm.
Roads rough and sandy. Getting
into pecan country now. (12 miles)

Wednesday, Nov 14th – Broke camp
at 8. Early for us. Ate dinner 6 miles from Llano. Arrived at Llano at 4. Bought some groceries and feed. Found out the route to Austin via
Birdtown. Went into camp one mile
southeast of the city. Roads sandy and
rough. (16 miles)

Thursday,
Nov 15th – Broke camp in Llano at 8:30. Ate dinner 8 miles from camp. Went into camp 6 miles farther on, east of
Honey Creek at 6. Killed one rabbit and
one squirrel. Weather fair, roads rough
and hilly. The worst roads we have had
on the trip. (14 miles)

Friday, Nov 16th – Broke camp at
8:45. Chester and Leander got lost? In
hunting for the right road. Waited one
hour for them without success. Went on
into Big Sandy and ate dinner. The boys
found us at this place. Went into camp
at the Joe Smith Ranch. Weather
stormy. (13 miles)

Saturday, Nov 17th – On arising
this morning to prepare breakfast in camp at Smith Ranch. We were unable to locate to locate the
horses. Went out to main road and
located their tracks heading back way we had come. Charlie and I went after them and found all
11 miles from camp. Got them back by
noon. Broke camp at 2. arrived Birdtown at 4:30. Went into camp. Weather fair, roads rough (8 miles)

Monday, Nov 19th – Broke camp at
9. Ate dinner 11 miles from camp. Went 4 miles farther and made camp for the
night on a farm 8 miles from Oatmanville.
Weather fair, roads rough. (15
miles)

Tuesday, Nov 20th – Broke camp
at 9. Arrived at Oatmanville at
11;30. Ate dinner one mile from the
town. Arrived at Austin, the state’s
capital, at 5. Went into camp on the
banks of the Colorado River. Went uptown
and got the mail, including dad’s pension check. Weather fair, roads rough . (15 miles)

Wednesday, Nov 21st – Layed over
in Austin to rest up the horses and get some blacksmithing done. West up to the capitol building and went all
thru it. It is the 7th
largest building in the world, measuring 114 feet from the base to the dome and
cost $5,000,000 to construct. By far the
largest state capitol building in the U.S.
Weather was warm. Estimated
population of Austin today, 25,000. A
large wagon bridge located here across the Colorado river.

Thursday, Nov 22nd – Still in
camp at Austin. Will start early
tomorrow morning for Lockhart. Weather warm and clear. Have had a nice rest up here and enjoyed the
scenes in and around the Texas state capitol.
Our total mileage up to date figures us 1,132 miles.

Friday, Nov 23rd – Broke camp at
Austin at 9. Passed thru the towne of
St. Elmo, Carl and Creadmore. Ate dinner
10 miles from Austin. Went into camp for
the night one mile from Creadmore.
Weather cool and cloudy. Roads
fine. (19 miles)

Saturday, November 24th – Broke
camp at 9. Arrived at Mendoza at
10:30. Ate dinner 9 miles from
camp. Arrived at Lockhart at 5 and went
into camp on the creek (no name).
Weather fair, roads rough in places.
(15 miles)

Sunday, Nov 25th – Broke camp at
Lockhart at 9:45. Ate dinner on Mr.
Callahan’s farm on Plum Creek before noon. Concluded to stay here the rest of the day
and all of tomorrow and get the washing out.
Weather warm, roads good. (7
miles)

Monday, Nov 26th – Resting in
camp today to do the family wash. Nicely
located our camp is on Plum Creek.
Plenty of good water and feed.
Weather warm and cloudy. Total
distance traveled to date 1173 miles.

Tuesday, Nov 27th – Broke camp
on Plum Creek at 9. Ate dinner 8 miles
from camp. Arrived at the public tank at
5:30 and went into camp. Weather warm,
roads very sandy. Hard going and making
slow time. (12 miles)

Wednesday, Nov 28th – Broke camp
at 9:45. Arrivevd in Harwood at
11:30. Ate dinner 3 miles from
Harwood. Went into camp on Smith’s Creek
on Mr. Johnson’s farm. Spent a very enjoyable evening at their
home. Weather fine, roads sandy. (10 miles)

Thursday, Nov 29th –
Thanksgiving day, but no pumpkin pies?
Broke camp on Johnson’s Farm at 9:15.
Arrived at Gonzales at 11. Had
two of our horses shod. Went into camp
for the night on the banks of the Guadaloupe River, one mile from Gonzales. Expect to stop here for awhile and make
future arrangements for the trip.
Weather warm, roads good. (16 miles)

Friday, Nov 30th – Broke camp at
9 and went up to Mr. Pullen’s place to
pick cotton and rest up the horses. They
have had about 10 days now of tough and sandy roads which took some flesh off
them. Picked cotton in the afternoon until
rain stopped us. Picked (all of us) 161
lbs cotton. Chester fell out of a pecan
tree near the camp and hurt his back.
Weather cloudy and rainy damp.

Saturday, Dec 1st – Picked 260
lb cotton. Weather warm and rainy.

Sunday, Dec 2nd – Seems queer
not to be breaking camp as we have for so many weeks. Weather today, no change. Warm and some rain. No work today (Sunday). Rested up.

Friday, Dec 7th - Picked 336 lbs cotton. Weather warm and cloudy. Our pile of cotton caught fire, but we put it
out before any damage was done. Moved
the cotton away from the house that night.

Saturday, Dec 8th- We had all of
our cotton hauled uptown, amounting in all to about 2000 lbs. Concluded not to pick any more cotton, but to
start for Velasco via Halletsville after another day’s rest here at Pullen’s on
the Guadalupe River in Gonzales.

Monday, Dec 10th – Broke camp at
10:30 (late start) at Pullen’s farm (our home since Nov 29th,
1894). Arrived in gonzales at noon and
settled up for the cotton picking. Ate
dinner 6 miles from town. Reached Peach
Creek at 5. went 1/2mile and went into
camp for the night. Weather clear, roads
sandy. (11 miles)

Thursday, Dec 13th – Broke camp
south of Halletsville at 8:15. Arrived
at Vienna on the Navidad Creek at noon.
Went two miles from there and ate dinner. Arrived at the town of Seclusion at 5 and
went into camp. Weather fair. Roads very sandy. (13 miles)

Friday, Dec 14th – Broke camp at
Seclusion at 9. Arrived at Boxville at
11. Crossed the Navidad Creek before
reaching Boxville. Arrived at the Golden
Rod Prairie’s before noon. Ate dinner 3
miles from the town. Went into camp on
the Golden Rod Creek. Weather
clear. (15 miles)

Saturday, Dec 15th – Broke camp
on Golden Rod Creek at 9:15. Crossed
Sandy Creek at 10. Crossed West Mustang
Creek at noon. Ate dinner 2 miles from
the creek. Crossed Palmetto Creek and
East Mustang Creek in the afternoon (plenty water in this country). Went into camp in a lane one mile from El
Campo. Roads fine, weather clear. (24 miles)

Sunday, Dec 16th – Broke camp
near El Campo at 9:30. Passed through El
Campo at 9:50. ate dinner near a railway
station on I & G. N/ Ry. Arrived at
the Colorado River one half mile from Wharton and went into camp. Weather fine, roads good. (13 miles)

Monday, Dec 17th – Layed over
half day at Wharton. Broke camp at 2. Went into camp at a waterhole near Caney
Creek. Weather fine, roads good. Arrived on the Gulf prairies today.(11 miles)

Tuesday, Dec 18th good– Broke camp at Caney Creek. Ate dinner near an old slough. Went into camp 4 miles from Mathews
store. Weather fair, roads good. Killed one wild goose and one prairie chicken
on the trip. (15 miles)

Wednesday, Dec 19th – Broke camp
at 9:30. Arrived at Mr. Mathews place at
11. Got stuck in the mud, delayed about
one hour. Ate dinner on the west bank of
Caney Creek. Went into camp on Buckhorn
Prairie or Buckner, near a windmill.
Weather fair, roads hard and rough.
(11 miles)

Thursday, Dec 20th – Broke camp
at 8:30. Arrived at Hawkins plantation
at noon. Crossed Caney Creek. Which was
tide water, salty. Ate dinner one mile
from Caney Creek. Arrived at Cedar Lake
at 4:30. Went into camp 3 miles from the
lake on an old bayou. Weather fair,
roads rough. (18 miles)

Friday, Dec 21, 1894 – Broke camp at
9:15. Arrived at the San Bernard River
at 10:30. Ate dinner in a large pasture
7 miles from camp. Arrived at VELASCO
TEXAS on the banks of the Brazos River at 5.
Weather good, roads muddy and rough. (15 miles) This completing our long and memorable
journey of 1380 miles.